Being a Lord Inquisitor was hard.
Richard knew that, but he was around 400 years old at that point, and a veteran of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade, as well as countless others. Even with all that experience and power, somehow he still had to do paperwork. Richard groaned, and began his attempt to conquer the mountain of documents, reports, news, and distress codes that his secretary had brought to him earlier in the Standard Terran Day. A few hours passed, and without warning, he flung the report on a minor hive world he recently liberated onto one of his bookshelves.
"Gak this! I've been working for 3 standard Terran years without a break! Time for a vacation."
The office, of course, gave no response, other than the creak of metal, the rattle of heating ducts, and somewhere off in the background, soft chanting to Him Upon The Throne. Normal sounds.
He leaned back into his chair. I wonder how Ana is doing, he thought. "Probably smashing heretics as always," he muttered to himself. He slumped out from his chair and began to wander over to his simple-looking nalwood liquor cabinet. It IS 1600 on Terra. Might as well have a drink, then I'm going to have some fun on the edge of the galaxy again. He took a bottle of vintage amasec from the cabinet and poured himself a large glass. Then he walked back, collapsed into his chair, and began to drink. A flex of his bionic right arm, and a little green flame burst from one of his adamantium fingertips.
He pressed the call button on his intercom, watching the flame dance and wobble in time to the currents in the air around him.
Much like the Imperium itself, honestly...especially now.
"Operator, call Thoric for me."
"Of course my Lord."
A well-built, yet ancient-looking man with hundreds of tubes snaking up into plugs built in the back of his head pressed the answer key.
"What is it, Inquisitor? Do we have another mission on our hands?"
"No old man, I've decided to take a break from work for a few months, they already have plenty of Inquisitors nearby to help them anyways."
Thoric visibly twitched in his chair, and started to grind his teeth: "You better not send us to a death trap or Emperor be damned, another heretic fleet, like the last time."
Richard laughed, but that only further annoyed the former Navy Admiral. "Come now Thoric, I just want to head over to the Perseus Arm, maybe sightsee a bit, that's all"
Thoric sighed, "I relent. I'll make preparations." He closed the communication link, and sighed.
Richard smiled. Usually Thoric was much more stubborn about these things, but maybe he was tired of working as well. No, I don't think that's possible, he wouldn't be tired of working, the old man marries his work. The blaring of the warp translation siren brought him out of his trance, and he waited for the translation to begin.
Thoric was up on the bridge, and now the warp drives were fully charged and the Gellar field was at full power. "Begin translation, we head for the Perseus Arm!" he yelled into the transceiver, which was already connected to the navigator's room.
A meek female voice responded: "Of course my Lord, I shall guide us."
Thoric hung up, and started the thrusters, and The Void's Gambit begins to accelerate in the direction of its new destination. Thoric looked at his crew, and began to shout orders to each and every one of them, and they responded with the practiced movements and actions he had drilled into them many years ago. He felt a bit of pride that they were still to his standards after all the things they had seen and fought, but that quickly wore off as he looked at the time display: M41.999.
The portal to the hellish dimension of the warp was opened in front of the Gambit, and the inquisitorial battleship disappeared from realspace.
Richard sighed, and looked out his window into the madness outside. After a while, most grizzled veterans and high profile soldiers can look into the Warp without suffering from insanity, but some say the price for such an immunity is to lose your innocence and humanity.
He scoffed. Those who complain about such things are either very young or very spoiled, he mused, but they have their own uses, I was like that when I was but the noble member of the master alchemist house of shut-ins I call family, although I'm thankful I chose this job over the boring task of helping to make more custodians, that's for sure.
His eyes suddenly shot towards what seemed to be a dark purple streak expanding into a roiling mess of pinks, greens, reds, and blues. "What in the Sabbat Martyr?", he whispered to himself. Suddenly that streak grew to the size of a great wave of roiling energy, deep and dark, and it collapsed against the ship, almost tipping the ship over, before expanding around the Gellar field, and swallowing the ship whole.
Richard fell out of his chair, flesh and metal hand finding the leg of his desk, and holding on for dear life, and when the ship eventually righted itself, he praised his intelligence on securing all of his furniture to the floor and ceiling 80 years ago, and then nearly crushed the intercom terminal with his mechanical fist.
"THORIC?" he screamed into the intercom.
"Do you know what is going on my lord?" yelled Thoric back.
"Get us out of this thing! We need to exit the Warp now!"
"Already on it!", Thoric yelled as he started screaming orders to the crew around him. "Man the fucking thrusters already! We are getting out of this thing!." The ship started its thrusters, but could not escape the dark tunnel from which it was trapped.
Richard had to do something, or else they would be destroyed by this beam of darkness. He punched in his navigator's number on the intercom, and yelled into it: "Daria! Daria! Are you there?! Answer me damnit!"
He heard a faint, quiet sobbing, after which Daria finally responded, her weak voice sounding like she was on the edge of madness: "It's gone. The Astronomicon is gone! Emperor please save us!"
Richard nearly had a heart attack when those words were processed in his mind. In fact, he was currently having a small mental breakdown as well. "T-the fucking a-astronomicon is GONE?"
He sat down on his chair, and slumped downwards, staring into space. A minute passed before he sat up slowly, and answered the psyker. "Can you get us out of whatever the gak this thing is?", he spoke with hastily crafted courage.
"No, no. We are stuck in an abyss of the enemy, and the only thing we can do is ride it out to its end." answered Daria between her fits of sobbing.
Richard was feeling fear for the first time in 15 years. He thought he had seen everything, from the C'tan to the inside of the Black Library, but this was a completely new experience. He did not know what this new threat was, but it has trapped them on the expanding path of abyssal darkness. What frightened him the most is that it blocked the Astronomicon of all things. Such a thing would be a powerful weapon for the arch enemy. Without the Emperor's Guiding Light, no ship could transit the Warp safely. It would be like the before times, when the birth of Slannesh had broken the Dark Age human empire apart and left Terra alone, scarred and warred over. He was dragged out of his contemplation by the ship shuddering, and he flung his eyes to his window.
"We're out? That shouldn't be possible. Daria said we were stuck, but now we're out?" He quickly slammed the console button for Thoric. "Thoric? What's going on? I thought we were stuck?"
"We were my Lord, but that dark column has spit us back out it seems."
"Disengage from the warp, now! I need to figure out where we are, and we can't do that in the warp!"
Thoric couldn't agree more, and quickly started disengaging the ship from the warp.
Richard felt the whiplash-like minor shock of the Gambit's exit from the warp.
He consulted the map display in his office, but his worst fears were realized. They were in uncharted space and had no way of currently contacting the rest of the Imperium. The only object he saw was the green and blue planet outside his window, with small continents surrounded by a great ocean, but the most peculiar thing was the shattered moon orbiting around the planet.
"Thank the Emperor, it's habitable" was his first thought. His intercom panel buzzed again, and he quickly answered.
"My lord, there are multiple ships all around us, all being loyal imperial vessels. There are 2 munitorum supply vessels, two astartes battle barges, and 4 imperial navy ships, as well as 1 rouge trader cruiser. Oh my, there's even a sacred Ark Mechanicus as well as 2 of its escorts!" said Thoric. "What shall we do with them?"
"Try to link communications with each of them, and I'm heading to the bridge to see if I can possibly take command of the forces we've been handed."
"Of course my Lord, I will see you shortly." The intercom then went silent.
Richard's mechanical hand went to rub his temple, and he slumped in his chair. This is going to be awful, but I have to make do with what I have been given by that abyssal wave, which, Emperor be praised, I have a ton of allies, the problem is getting them on my side and under my command. He then stood up, and exited his quarters, walking down the metal hallway, passing crew members and tech priests hurriedly repairing damaged panels and putting out a few small fires. He then found himself at the door to the bridge, he quickly took a few deep breaths before entering the room.
"I demand answers! We have been struck off course, and Emperor forgive those who cross a Rogue Trader like myself!"
"You think you're at the top, don't you? The Munitorum will have my head for being late to my destination, but you're a rogue trader, who doesn't have to answer to anyone anyways!"
"The Omnissiah demands that we continue to search for knowledge, and I will not be put off course. I protect this Ark Mechanicus and its secrets, and I will not be kept from my research!"
"There is a world where our forces are desperately needed, and I have no time for this nonsense, nor do I have time to sit here and wait!"
"My brothers are also needed as well, we have a crusade to keep, and we cannot stay here for long."
"Agreed Lamenter, The Sons of Dorn also have a battlefield to fight upon, which is not here."
Richard sighed, and walked towards the podium in the middle of the bride, took a deep breath, and began to speak: "Silence! Now is not the time to squabble, we are in uncharted space, with no real way to travel through the warp at the moment. Right now we need to focus on organizing ourselves, and properly band together."
"And who are you to order us around?" Answered the aging and pudgy Munitorum Adept, looking like a fat gopher with his tiny spectacles and snout-like face.
"Exactly. Why do you get to order us?" Chimed the young and arrogant Rogue Trader, who had a swept-back and oily hair, looking like your average hawk, with keen eyes and a permanent expression of disdain.
The mechanical and inhuman-looking Mechanicus Techpriest seemed to quiver with rage, his visible diodes blinking and whirring like a piece of archeotech. "How dare you order me! I am a Magos Explorator! This is a sacred ship, and I will not be ordered around like a servitor!"
Richard smiled. This was one of his favorite moments as an Inquisitor, because now he would see the shock, and the ass-kissing would commence. "I, am a Lord Inquisitor. I am sending you my credentials now, and I am taking control of the non-Astartes and Adeptus Mechanicus forces here. Unless you want to challenge my authority?"
All of the mortal faces immediately blanched in response to the words spoken from Richard's lips. The Marines stood with neutral expressions, as befits the sons of the Emperor, while the Arch Magos stood, still fuming behind his metal implants.
The Rogue Trader was the first to find the courage to speak. "Well, I cannot argue with you, nor could anyone else. I submit." He bowed slightly, clearly showing his frustration with having to work for someone.
The rest all bowed, and a moment of silence was shared with all those present. Then Richard turned to the two Astartes. "Is it fine if you stay with us for at least a while to help us get settled here? I won't hold it against you to refuse, as it is your right as Astartes. Although I certainly appreciate your help."
The two took a moment to mull over the decision, before answering at the same time.
"Of course, we are happy to at least provide some aid to you before we leave," Said the black armored Marine.
"Agreed cousin, it would not befit a son of the Emperor to not provide some aid in this current situation. As Imperial Fists, we shall help you construct a suitable fortress before we also head to our destination," Replied the yellow giant.
Richard then looked to the Arch Magos, who had seemed to return to the same neutral expression. He then bowed and spoke: "I would ask for your help in these times, considering we're most likely stranded here. The industrial capacity of your Ark Mechanicus would be immensely helpful in at least building an FOB or maybe even an outpost in a short time."
"Hmm. For a fleshbag, you have respect, Lord Inquisitor. I will consider it. But you will not order me around like the rest of them. I have autonomy, as you should already know."
"Of course. I only ask for your aid in this current crisis, and nothing more. It is a request that you as a Magos Explorator have a right to ignore if necessary."
Richard smiled. Everything is going as planned, which is much better than the ways it could have gone. "Good. How about you let me handle interactions with the locals for now since we might need a delicate touch to peacefully integrate this new world. Otherwise, is everyone done talking? Any other points that need to be mentioned or any important information that still needs to be shared?"
All shook their heads. Clearly, Richard's timely interjection had been the deciding factor in the argument.
"Perfect. Shall we end the call and attend to any possible repairs and business that requires our attention?"
"Yes, there are plenty of things we need to prepare for, especially if we intend to take this world for the God Emperor," said the Rogue Trader. All the others nodded in agreement.
"Then I shall be available whenever any of you require me. Since we're working together, my name is Richard, Sabbat Martyr bless you and let us meet again when we are all done with the necessary repairs and work."
The Magos Explorator had left by this point, stating that he needed to prepare and make checks on the resources he currently still has.
"Emperor be with you," said the people still present, with Richard leaving the call.
Richard rubbed his eyes, clearly stressed out, before walking back to his quarters and flopping onto his bed, staring up at the metal ceiling and listening to the groans and sounds of his ship. Today is going to be a long day, and now I'm stuck leading all of these people. My work never ends, doesn't it?